A PEACEFUL protest threatened to get out of hand yesterday as villagers vented their fury over a mass burial pit.

Police had to remove a group of teenagers who had tied themselves to a wagon in a bid to stop work on the site, at Tow Law, County Durham. Ministry of Agriculture (Maff) officials are to bury 120,000 carcasses there.

Residents stopped vehicles going in and out of the former opencast site, at Inkerman, for two hours.

A police helicopter circled as crowd members sang We shall not be Moved and demanded answers.

Campaigner Stuart Balmer said: "There are a lot of unanswered questions. There are a lot of people who do not realise that this is not going to affect just Tow Law.

"Water from the site will flow down the valley into the River Browney and River Wear, affecting a lot of County Durham."

Grandmother Irene McFadden said: "I am doing this for the grandchildren and other children living in the village. We will not win, but at least we are trying to do something."

The majority of the crowd felt that they had not been given the chance to voice their fears for health and safety, and that they had been let down by local councillors.

They vowed to return to the site today.

Wear Valley district councillor and Tow Law resident Ron Grogan said: "I am not on the protest, but I am working very hard in the background to make sure that everything is done right.''

He said that Wear Valley District Council was working with Tow Law Town Council, Maff, Derwentside District Council and army officials to form a liaison group, which would answer questions and keep villagers informed weekly.

Meanwhile, the town council has written to Maff with a list of concerns from the community and is expecting an answer as soon as possible.

Inspector Ivan Wood, of Bishop Auckland police, said that he recognised the people's right to protest.

He said: "All we want to do is find a peaceful resolution to the situation. It has not got out of hand and I think they have made their point."